Northern tech companies shouldn’t have to head to London to find a tech accelerator to help grow their business.
That’s the view of Carl Wong, co-founder of Liverpool-based LivingLens, which was acquired by tech giant Medallia in 2020 for $26m.
The entrepreneur is now a serial angel investor and has set up a tech accelerator in his home city of Liverpool to provide the same sort of help he had to go to London to find when he was growing LivingLens.
Called Baltic Ventures, it’s being run by experienced Claire Lewis, who explained how it hoped to find and help future Northern-based unicorns.
Speaking at last week’s LCR Tech Climbers event, where the great and the good of the region’s digital tech sector were recognised, CEO Lewis explained how Baltic Ventures would work.
“Baltic Ventures is a tech accelerator,” she told BusinessCloud. “Over the next five years we’re going to be running five accelerator programmes.
“Companies taking part will get £50,000 investment from angels and we’re based in Liverpool.
“Carl’s vision is to create the opportunities that are available to founders in London, in the North.
“We have an international vision and ambition for what we’re doing. We’re a tech accelerator that just happens to be based in Liverpool.
“We’re open to founders all over the world. We’re specifically looking to work with early stage companies that already have a product and some traction so they have an MVP.
“We’ll look at how we can accelerate that growth. They’re probably thinking about how they can raise seed funding or pre-seed.
“We’ll help them speak the language of investors, be pitch ready and give them all the insight they need to accelerate their business and avoid the pitfalls that many entrepreneurs fall into.
“It’s about establishing Liverpool as a desirable place for founders to build and scale successful tech businesses. This is a place where international tech companies can be successful.”